Introduction MPEG has given humans the means to add significant more effectiveness and enjoyment to their lives. This comes at a cost, though. Giving billions of people the means to stream video streamed to anywhere at any time of the day, adds to global energy consumption. Enhanced experiences provided by newer featurers such as High Dynamic Range further adds energy consumption in the display. More sophisticated compression algorithms consume more energy, even though this can be mitigated by more advanced…

Introduction In How does MPEG actually work? I described the way MPEG develops its standards, an implementation of the ISO/IEC Directives for technical work. This article describes the life of one of MPEG most prestigious standards: MPEG-2 Systems, which has turned 26 in November 2018 and has played a major role in creating the digital world that we know. What is MPEG-2 Systems? When MPEG started, standards for compressed video and later audio was the immediate goal. But it was…

Introduction The well-known double helix carries the DNA of living beings. The human DNA contains about 3.2 billion nucleotide base pairs represented by the quaternary symbols (A, G, C, T). With high-speed sequencing machines today it is possible to "read" the DNA. The resulting file contains millions of “reads”, short segments of symbols, typically all of the same length, and weighs an unwieldy few Terabytes. The upcoming MPEG-G standards, developed jointly by MPEG and ISO TC 276 Biotechnology, will reduce the…

Introduction When I described the MPEG workflow in How does MPEG actually work? I highlighted the role of quality assessment across the entire MPEG standard life cycle: at the time of issuing a Call for Evidence (CfE) or a Call for Proposals (CfP), carrying out Core Experiments (CE) or executing Verification Tests. We should consider, however, that in 30 years the coverage of the word “media” has changed substantially. Originally (1989-90) the media types tested were Standard Definition (SD) 2D rectangular…

Introduction In How does MPEG actually work? I described the “MPEG standards work flow” from a proposed an idea to the release of the corresponding standard and its verification. I also highlighted the key roleplayed by MPEG experts as the real makers of MPEG standards. In this article I would like to introduce the role played by the peculiar MPEG organisation and some of its members in facilitating the work of MPEG experts. The MPEG membership MPEG operates in the framework…